The Consumerist, a popular consumer advocacy blog, raised alarm bells over the issue. It defined the changes as meaning “anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later”.

The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (Epic) was on the brink of filing a legal complaint when Facebook announced it would revert to its old policy. Epic, along with 12 other consumer and civil liberty groups, were intending to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about the policy changes when it was stopped in its tracks.

Simon Davies of Privacy International criticised Facebook for allowing commercial and legal concerns to override its commitment to users.
“It appears to be going down the same road as Google. Its halo is beginning to slip,” Mr Davies told the BBC. He advised users to “ratchet their privacy settings up to the maximum” to restrict advertisers’ access to their data and ensure that their details are fully protected.